Middleham Town Council

JUBILEE FUN: Live music, a magician, a bouncy castle and lots more are being organised so that the town can celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee from June 2 to 4, the council was told. The council has selected a jubilee gift, which each child under 17 in Middle-ham will be given during the celebrations. Several fund-raising events have been planned.

WORKING PARTY: Members agreed to set up a working party to deal more quickly with parking problems. A disc parking system was rejected because of the prospect of a lot of signs and yellow lines in a conservation area. The considerable cost of installing such a system was also noted.

MARKET DATE: Most coun-cillors voted against a pro-posal to reinstate regular markets, but it was agreed to hold one during the Middle-ham Festival, either on June 30 or July 7.

POND POSER: The country-side officer had sent recomm-endations and ideas concern-ing Pinker's Pond being overgrown with common spike rush. One councillor said the council needed to decide whether they wished to undertake active conser-vation management or just let nature take its course, in which case the area might well revert back to woodland and become Pinker's Ash Grove. It was agreed to seek further professional advice.

For more town council reports see tomorrow's Darlington

and Stockton Times